Katasekan Hiina
片瀬館 ひいな
Does Katasekan Hiina allow tattoos? In a private bath
At Katasekan Hiina the private baths are the main event: six open-air tubs lined up above the sea, each with its own name and its own lock, free to staying guests for as many turns as they can fit in.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule, so nothing here is a promise about the shared baths. What it does publish is seven private baths that cost nothing and need no reservation: six open-air ones facing the sea and one indoor family bath. You go in when the door is unlocked and lock it behind you. Eleven rooms also have their own open-air tub.
The bath
The inn has nine baths and seven of them are private. Six are open-air baths with a view of the sea, named Togasa, Banjiro, Banzaburo, Amanogawa, Bonbori and Tsukimi. They are free, they take no reservations, and you may use them as many times as you like: if the door is unlocked, go in and turn the lock. They open from 3 to 10 p.m. and from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. The seventh is an indoor family bath big enough for five to seven people, free on the same first-come basis and open right through the night, from 4 p.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Eleven rooms have a tub of their own. Ten have an open-air tub of Shigaraki ceramic facing the sea; they are all the same size and differ only in the color of the glaze, and the inn says frankly that they are small, really for one person. The eleventh is a two-room special suite with a cypress tub that holds about five.
The water comes from the inn's own well, which the owners say took years of drilling to strike. There is also a shared large bath and a shared open-air bath. Guests who ask early can take spring water home in their own container at no charge.
The hotel
A ryokan on the Katase shore that the owners describe as a hideaway about 30 minutes south of Ito by car. Besides the eleven rooms with tubs it has sea-view Japanese rooms of 10 tatami, which the inn says are its most booked, and standard Japanese rooms in a plain traditional style. The special room with the cypress tub is the only one of its kind and has two connecting rooms. Free parking holds 20 cars.
Good to know
- No booking, no fee: an unlocked door means the bath is free, and you lock it from inside.
- The indoor family bath is open all night, after the open-air ones close at 10 p.m.
- Room tubs are one-person size, except in the cypress special room.
- Phone from Izu-Atagawa Station between 3 and 5 p.m. and the inn will collect you.
Getting there
From Tokyo the inn gives about 2 hours to Izu-Atagawa Station by direct limited express, or 40 to 50 minutes to Atami by Shinkansen and about 60 minutes onward on the Izukyu Line. There is a free shuttle from Izu-Atagawa Station: phone the inn when your train arrives, between 3 and 5 p.m., and it comes to meet you. The inn publishes no walking time. By car it is about 2 hours 30 minutes from central Tokyo on the Tomei Expressway.
Izu-Atagawa STN · Izukyu Line (Odoriko limited express from Tokyo)
The inn publishes no walking time.
Free shuttle from Izu-Atagawa Station on request, 3 to 5 p.m.
Where it is
Izu-Atagawa STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Three days of JR East trains from Tokyo, and the Izukyu line from Ito on to Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori.
- Izukyu Discovery Pass Worth it if your stay also stops at Ito or Shimoda. It covers two or three days in a row on the Izukyu line between Ito and Izukyu-Shimoda, Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori included, and a vacant ordinary seat on the Odoriko. It doesn’t cover the JR part of the ride from Tokyo.
- Mt Omuro and the Izu coast day trip The Mt Omuro lift, the Atami beach road, the Jogasaki cliffs and Ito’s harbor.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
Skip the shared baths and use one of the private baths. No reservation needed.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the hot spring page and FAQ describe the seven free private baths and the eleven rooms with open-air tubs)
Best for: anyone who would rather try six sea-view private baths in an evening than sit in a shared one
Six free private open-air baths, 3 to 10 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., and one free private indoor family bath for five to seven people, 4 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. No reservations: first come, first served, as often as you like. Ten rooms have a Shigaraki ceramic open-air tub that the inn says is basically for one person; one special room has a cypress tub for about five.
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